delta waves

the snow takes me deep within

*

star’s lament

no silver in mother’s voice

*

entering the ley line I inhale Venus

*Published in Otata 40 (April 2019)

impromptu boogie

one tulip bud

then two

*Published in the March 2019 issue of Stardust Haiku

Cross of Mine

Inspired by Hans Hoffmann's Laburnum

It is in chaos that I thrive,

in the spirals and drips

of my thoughts made manifest, splashed 

frantically in your gaze,

in the the push-pull affair between 

colors warm and cool. 

Could you exist here, too, 

not just as a spectator in your 

familiar pose: arms akimbo, legs 

planted flush against earth,

but as a lover, a dancer, 

a gunshot, a virus in my veins?

Will you be the one to finally hoist 

up my red-soaked cross,

the one I have carried west to east, 

south to north,

the one I mend and cradle daily 

while you merrily dream?

Or will you walk away

and give back 

the spilled blue of my essence that 

reached for your pulse in song?

*Published by The Ekphrastic Review on 3/24/19

I'm happy to announce that I participated in the My Favorite Poem Project, which was sponsored by the Washington-Centerville Public Library on 3/20/19. I read "Book Lice" by Paul Fleischman with Kim Senft-Paras. This was my first time participating in a poetry reading, and I truly had a great time. Many thanks to the WCPL for hosting this event. I look forward to next year!

*St. Peter Inserts Audible Sigh*

At the end of my life, when I’ve made the inevitable jaunt to that ever-elusive other side, I hope, nay pray, I never receive my complete tally of “hours spent in front of screen scrolling...scrolling...scrolling.”

heaven's pearly gates

but first

Instagram that sh*t

*Published in Issue #39 of Failed Haiku

old dream

the fear reverts

to monochrome

*Published by Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective on 3/6/19

beyond an asterisk

the scent

of ylang ylang

*Published by Harusame on 3/6/19

fallen petal

another soul

lost to drugs

*

like Satie

how the dusk turns

red to violet

*

night music

the gentle thrum

of solitude

*

ochre dawn

I bathe my ears

in ragas

*

happy surprise

the blue jay's call

between snowflakes

*Published in the spring 2019 edition of The Bamboo Hut

Rebecca

I wasn't popular in high school. In a Catholic institution filled with all things blond, tan, ambitious, and religious, I was the weirdo agnostic who dug combat boots and barely saw the light of a grade higher than C. My sole friend—a conservative, prim Brainiac—never viewed me as a misfit, however. I was her dear pal. A sleepover buddy. I was the person who snuck into a vacant girls' locker room at lunch to philosophize life and Tolkien with her, without the background chatter of a blustering cafeteria.  
 
Before we graduated, I made the risky choice to tell her that I was bisexual. I never had a crush on her, I said, but I wanted her to know the real me, whatever that was, before we journeyed our separate ways to college.   
 
A week or two later, she sent me a lengthy hand-written letter, the old-fashioned way: through mail. It was one of the most beautiful, raw, and compassionate things I had ever read, filled with unconditional love and support. I was floored. In my head, I whispered continual gratitude—a thousand silent thank-yous to whoever listened to my internal ramblings that I had, despite my prediction, not lost a friend.  
 
I tucked her letter in my bedroom drawer and vowed to the stars I would respond soon. But I never did. And I never saw or heard from her again. 
 

in the wind

a thousand apologies
​lost forever 

*Published in Issue 1.2 of Human/Kind Journal
**2019 Pushcart Prize nominee